Giuseppi Terragni was just 28 years old when he started
working on Casa del Fascio in Como, Italy. He was the archetypal tragic hero,
producing a remarkable body of work before being drafted into the army and sent
deep into Russia. His physical and mental health were shattered and he died in
Italy before he was 40.
The central space at Casa del Fascio is a re-imagining of
the renaissance cortile. An internal space, but with light penetrating from all
directions and galleries around the edge. The ground floor opens across its
entire width at the press of a button, connecting to a public plaza.
It doesn’t seem to have aged a minute. Is that important?
Not sure. I’m all for buildings that have a timeless beauty but this one is
firmly situated in the industrial era. All the same, it’s quite remarkable.
My rendering technique in 2013 involved combining a shaded
image with a quick Render using Revit’s internal engine. The images aren’t
hi-res but they are quite effective for…